The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to a liquid cooling system for an information handling system.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option is an information handling system (IHS). An IHS generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements may vary between different applications, IHSs may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in IHSs allow for IHSs to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, IHSs may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
IHSs such as, for example, desktops and servers, typically include a variety of heat producing components (HPCs) such as, for example, central processing units (CPUs), graphical processing units (GPUs), memory modules (e.g., Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM) such as Dual In-line Memory Modules (DIMMs)), and or a variety of other HPCs known in the art. As the processing speed of IHSs increases, the heat produced by the HPCs also increases. The cooling of these HPCs raises a number of issues. Traditionally, HPCs have been cooled by forcing air through heat dissipation devices that are coupled to the HPCs (e.g. heat sinks, heat pipes, and/or a variety of other heat dissipation devices known in the art). However, as the heat produced by the HPCs becomes greater and greater, these air convection systems begin to reach their limits of application due to, for example, noise and efficiency considerations. Furthermore, such air convection systems also limit the design and construction of IHS chassis with respect to the positioning and spacing of the HPCs, while limiting the ability to locate multiple HPCs in close proximity to one another due to the constriction in airflow and limited efficiency of forced air convection cooling.
One solution to these issues is to use liquid to cool the HPCs. Typically, a cold plate is coupled directly to each HPC and liquid is run through each cold plate to cool the HPCs. However, because of space issues in the IHS chassis, the conduits that provide the liquid to the cold plates and the passageways in the cold plates themselves must be relatively small, which then requires larger pumps to compensate for the large pressure drops that are created in order to move enough liquid to provide proper cooling. Furthermore, such solutions are cumbersome to install and remove in order to, for example, replace or upgrade the HPC.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide improved cooling for HPCs in an IHS.